


the whole world is sleeping, but my world is you

by goreallegore



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Heroes, M/M, OT5 Friendship, Slow Burn, bedtime stories au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-22 10:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3725926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goreallegore/pseuds/goreallegore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Say if I were to leave for forever, would it be okay?”</p><p>Niall reaches for Harry’s hand, intertwining their fingers as if the gaps between their fingers were made to be filled by each other, “Only if it makes you happy. ‘Sides, I’d probably follow you to ends of time. Can’t afford losing me best mate.” A slight blush decorates Niall’s cheeks and the dim lighting of the room makes the boy look – ethereal, Harry thinks. Harry is completely endeared by the sight before him. </p><p>Or; Harry lives his dreams and Niall helps him save them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. where the fields are painted gold and the trees are filled with memories

**Author's Note:**

> hello, hello, it's me again. So, I wrote this fic very loosely based on the movie called bedtime stories and when I say very loosely i mean very loosely. anyway, it's gonna be multi-chaptered, probs only two but we'll see. 
> 
> oh and it's a gift for the lovely kelvin cause he loves narry just as much as i do. thanks for the idea!
> 
> come say hi at: peonyiris.tumblr.com
> 
> disclaimer: i don't own any of these peeps. 
> 
> title; bloom by paper kites
> 
> p.s: didn't really proofread *monkey covering eyes emoji*

Bedtime stories had always been Harry’s favorite thing about going to bed; more than the warm glass of milk – that was now empty on his bedside table – more than his mother tucking him in and kissing him goodnight. He would turn on his side lamp and bury himself in a new story every night. He was old enough to read by himself and didn’t need his mother’s help. He would flip the pages of his book to where he left off the night before, recalling what story he had finished and what he’ll be reading next. His body albeit being tired from a long day at primary school would still buzz in excitement.

(x)

Harry is seven when he first discovers his gift. He wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone breathing heavily. He rubs his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting of the room only to discover that he is no longer in his bedroom, but instead in a dingy cell. He shakes his head once or twice to rid himself of any hallucinations he might be having, but when everything remains the same he realizes that maybe this isn’t just another dream.

“Hello?” he calls out to no one in particular, getting up and feeling the cold hard floor beneath his feet. Suddenly, all the warmth from being under the blankets seeps away and he is left standing their shuddering. He is feeling a mixture of emotions – terror and confusion being the most apparent ones. His tiny feet walk towards the cell bars in hopes of finding an answer to his questions. He grips the metal as he leans forward in the gaps between the bars to look outside when he notices a grey hound walking back and forth a few meters away from his cell. He tries his best not to make any noise, but a whimper escapes his lips catching the hound’s attention.

“No,” he whispers as the beast rushes towards him. _He should move_ , he thinks, _he really should move!_ But his feet are glued to the ground and he can’t find the will to leave, enraptured by the bright yellow eyes running towards him. It’s only when the hound jumps towards the cell clawing one of the bars with its sharp nails that Harry falls backward with a yelp.

The beast keeps clawing at the bars aggressively with his giant paws, his eyes wild leaving Harry fear stricken. He crawls all the way back to the wall; distancing himself from the creature. He is scared, petrified even, but for some reason he can’t take his eyes off of the dog. The thing is it’s different than any other hound he would pet at a pet store, this one is twice the size of a regular one, it has a heavy coat of fur and fangs are protruding in a very prominent way, but it’s eyes are the oddest part about it; they are bright and yellow with an array of emotion filling them. His thoughts are soon interrupted when the hound breaks through the last of the bars to enter the cell. Harry wants to escape, _he should escape_ , but he feels paralyzed. The beast leaps towards him and he closes his eyes in fear when he hears, “ _stop!_ ”

His breathing is jagged and his heart is threatening to burst out of its cage but he opens his eyes because he is okay, because the beast didn’t attack him, and there is someone else with him. He sees a small, palm sized, human standing between himself and the beast.

“What did I tell you about scaring the guests, Loki?” the puny human reprimands. Harry sits there, his knees to his chest, his clammy hands wrapped around them, observing the interaction between the two _creatures?_

The little human dusts off its shoes before revealing a pair of bright wings, he flies up and looks the hound straight in the eyes. The dog calms down and transforms into a small brown pup with a playful smile on its face. The human huffs, “silly puppy.” He continues to pet the puppy letting go of any anger he previously had. It’s only when the puppy rushes towards Harry, again, that the human ( _is it even a human?_ Harry thinks) acknowledges Harry’s existence. Still shaken by past events Harry moves further back into the wall, ducking his head, afraid that the pup might turn into the monstrous hound again.

“It’s alright, he won’t do anything to you, I promise” the human says, and for some reason Harry believes him. He lifts his head and offers the pup a tentative smile. The puppy licks his face in excitement as if they are old pals and any fear he previously had dissolves. He plays with the dog for a bit, rubbing its tummy, getting licked several times. The fairy – Harry learns – watches over them quietly.

“So, urm, where am I?” he asks, without looking up.

“Right! I didn’t even properly introduce myself or this little guy here,” the fairy says, petting the dog, “I’m Louis Dinium, the leader of all fairies of Lycia, and you’re Harry; the chosen one!”

“What?” Harry tilts his head in confusion, obviously stumped by the little creature’s words.

“Young Harold,” he flies in front of his face, “you have a power.”

“Power?”

He smiles mischievously, “yes! You see, you can enter the dream world. The dream world otherwise known as Lycia, by the locals, of course,” he gestures with his hands, “I’ll teach you the technical names later. But for now all you need to know is that Morpheus and Iris were rather kind to you and gave you this power. Now ready for an adventure?” He claps his hands and twinkles his pretty blue eyes at Harry. For a seven year old this is rather too exciting so instead of asking more questions he nods his head eagerly.

And they go on their first adventure.

(x)

“Harry? Harry?” Anne calls out to no avail. “Oh, for goodness sake. Gemma, darling, can you keep an eye on the stove while I go check if your brother is awake?” Gemma nods in response, getting up from her stool and walking towards the stove.

Anne walks up the stairs to Harry’s room, knocking before entering his room. When no one answers she walks in to find Harry sound asleep in his bed.

“Good lord, all this boy does is sleep, even on his graduation day.” She pulls down his covers and tries to shake him out of his sleep.

*Meanwhile in Lycia*

“Duck!” Louis shouts, casting another spell on the troll. Harry ignores Louis – something he learned to do a long time ago – and continues to swing his sword at the incoming troll. It pierces the stumpy creature’s shoulders causing him to yelp. Louis, albeit impressed by Harry’s swordsmanship, sends him a glare before casting a binding spell on the creature.

“This isn’t the last of me! I’ll come back and get you two!” the troll wriggles in his chains.

“Yeah yeah, that’s what they all say.” Louis waves his hand but before he poofs him away to the dungeons of Lycia the troll says, “oh, you’ve got a storm comin’, Dinium.”

Louis comes and stands beside Harry punching him in the arm, “ow, what was that for?”

“Why didn’t you listen to me?” Louis demands, looking Harry straight in the eye. He is in his human form something he started doing once Harry hit his growth spurt in 10th grade. He said something about feeling too short around a ‘useless human’. Harry still has a couple of inches over Louis something he is quite proud of. Apparently, fairies are only allowed to grow to a certain height even in their human form. To Louis’s dismay it means he is still shorter than Harry the ‘useless human’ who is renowned in Lycia for his swordsmanship and archery skills. Basically, the Katniss Everdeen of his dreamland.

“Mate, if I’d ducked we’d be stuck fighting the troll for another day,” Harry exclaims casually, lifting his sword and using a spell to transform it into a pen. Another thing he learned after discovering his little gift, he has the power to perform spells and enchantments.

“Mate, you’re lucky that the troll was level 2 or else he’d have your head and I’d be punished by the king for letting his darling human die,” Louis mocks. Lance would most definitely kill Louis if something happened to Harry, something that both of them knew very well.

“Don’t lie, you love me,” Harry says, swinging his arm around Louis’s neck and offering him his biggest smile. Louis rolls his eyes not letting the admiration he has for the boy get to him.  

“Harry? Harry? Wake up, love! You’ll be late!” Harry hears a voice.

“Ah, that’s my cue. I’ll see you tonight, right?” Harry asks.

“Not like I have a choice,” Louis refutes, but his voice is soft telling Harry that he is just as eager to see Harry every day just as Harry is to see louis. They’re best mates after all.

Anne continues to shake Harry and finally after five minutes of aggressive shaking and calling, the boy sits up, “sorry, mum, was having a nice dream.” He rubs the sleep from his eyes and offers his mother a lazy smile. She shakes her disapprovingly only to give away a small smile and tell Harry to get ready for his graduation ceremony. Right, he is graduating high school. He is done with high school.

He gets out of bed, stretching his muscles, realizing how fully rested he is. That’s one thing he never understands, how his body is fully rested after going on all these adventures but he supposes it has to do with magic. He pulls out an ironed white dress shirt and black pants and lays them down on his bed. He takes a quick shower, before drying himself in front of the mirror. _His hair has grown quite long_ , he notes. He likes it though. He gets dressed and walks down stairs.

When he walks into the kitchen he sees Gemma sitting on the stool reading some book for her English Lit class at college and his mother near the stove humming some song he heard on the radio, “mornin’.”

His mother turns around and frowns, “Harry, at least button up your shirt for graduation.”

“He’d button up if he had any decency left in him,” Gemma comments. Harry feigns shock, “please, I didn’t say anything when you went through your purple hair phase!”

“Yeah, whatever, eat up.”

He buttons up his dress shirt.

(x)

Three months pass in a flurry, Harry spends his days working at the bakery during the day and fighting mythical creatures by night. He sometimes feels like Clark Kent with his double identity except he is much younger and no one would actually believe that Lycia exists. That’s probably why he hasn’t had many friends in the past. His life is too different from them, he can’t really explain it and they can’t really understand so he lets himself be friends with everyone in the dreamland. King Lance who is very young and around his age, Zed the genius behind the magic in Lycia, and then Louis, his best mate, and surprisingly the most trusted fairy soldier of Lycia. He’s the leader of course.

Harry and Louis are sitting on the bay of Anahita when Harry mentions it, “I start college tomorrow.”

When Louis doesn’t say anything he realizes that maybe this might be an end to his frequent visits. In high school he had more time on his hands but now he was going to pursue a higher education, he couldn’t spend the rest of his life locked away in his bedroom, “I promise, I’ll still come back.”

Louis scoffs at that.

“What? If you have something to say please do?”

“Harold, do you seriously think you’re the first one to come here? There have been others and they say the same thing. You all find a reason to stay in that world of yours. You always do.”

“What do you want me to? Give up my education to sleep and play roughhouse with you? I have responsibilities. I have a family.”

Louis turns to look at Harry, he has tears in his eyes that he is trying his hardest to blink away, “I thought I was your family too.” It’s quiet almost a mumble that could be missed by the grumbling of the wind or the chirping of the birds but Harry hears it as clear as day, like a shot through his heart and he wishes he could take it back. Take back all the words he has said.

“I’m sorry.”

That’s all he can say.

(x)

“And these are your keys to your dorm room which is 255. It’s down the hallway,” he points to a random door, “oh, and your room is a suite. I know I know, freshmen usually don’t get one but like all you lads come from outside of London so we kind of packed you in one place. Two of the lads are from foreign countries.”

He reads off the name from the clipboard almost robotically, “Zayn Ma-leek? And Niall Horan. They won’t get here for another week.” Harry looks over the names and thinks ‘Malik’ and mentally stops himself from correctly the advisors horrible attempt at pronouncing the name. “Right, that should be all. If you need me I’d be in my room which has the tweedy character on it. Have a good day, mate.”

Harry walks over to his room, suitcases in hand, and opens the door with his key. As soon as the door opens he hears someone shout ‘duck’ so he does instinctively. A pillow goes flying over his head and lands with a thud on the floor.

“Oi, Payno, you got rubbish aim!” the stranger who had shouted duck says. Harry still can’t see them. He moves in to get a better look at his future roommates and comes to face the back of a short boy.

He turns, a smirk on his face, “Hi!”

Harry feels as if the ground beneath him is shaking, “Louis?”

The boy with a pixie hair cut – when did he get that haircut? – furrows his brows in confusion, “how do you know my name, mate?”

A taller boy comes into view, walking over to Louis and smacking his head, “he’s our other roommate, you twat. Harry, right? I’m Liam and this is Louis.” He gestures between the two, offering a hand to shake and Harry swears someone is playing a dirty joke on him.

“You two are shittin’ me,” Harry backs away, “how are you two here? How is this even possible? Why aren’t you Lycia?”

“Mate, what are you babblin’ on about? Are you okay?” Louis asks, thoroughly confused.

The words are a jumbled mess in his head and he feels his limbs giving away. His eyelids feel heavy and he falls into the darkness. Harry faints.

(x)

 It’s not Louis and Lance, its Louis and Lance, Harry reminds himself. He had fainted thinking his friends from Lycia had somehow managed to make it to the human world, but he knows very well that that isn’t true. He is the only one who can do that. Besides, he learns, that Louis and Liam are nothing like Dinium (he thinks it’s easier to refer him with his last name) and Lance on surface. Louis is feisty with a sharp tongue and a knack for crude words whereas Dinium, albeit sassy, was polite and humble. Similarly, Liam is much bigger in built than Lance, he is also a lot more mischievous but his eyes. Oh his eyes, hold the same kindness that Lance’s did. But what does he know he barely knows these boys.

They’re sitting in Harry’s room, Liam on a chair and Louis on the desk. His room is fairly empty meaning neither of them are his actual roommates, “soz. You lot just reminded me of someone. Also, hadn’t eaten all day, must’ve been why I fainted.”

“Posh accent, heh? Where you from curly?” Louis ask, swinging his legs back and forth.

“Holmes Chapel.”

“Ah, I’m from Wolverhapmton and Louis’ from Doncaster.”

“Thanks, Liam, I forgot I could actually introduce myself,” Louis remarks.

“Yeah, well, you seemed like you were scaring the poor guy!” Liam throws his hands up in defeat.

“Don’t be petty, Li. You know you love me.”

Harry watches them go back and forth for a while and for some odd reason he feels at home. Liam tells him how he met Louis during orientation and how they’ve ‘sorta’ been friends ever since. Their banter is endearing and Harry feels a familiar ache in his heart thinking of all his friends back in Lycia.

“Right, almost forgot, Niall? The kid from Ireland is your roommate and Zayn goes with us. We have a triple room,” Louis informs. This explains the emptiness in Harry’s room, but he thinks that it’s probably a good thing considering now he gets to pick the bed first and his side first. Though him fainting and being put in this bed kind of made it his.

“Huh, alright. Thanks.”

“No, problem, mate. We’re gonna go and unpack, wanna grab a bite after?” Liam asks, before walking out with Louis.

“Sure,” he says simply. And that’s what it is: simple.

 

_ 18 months later  _

“Lads, oh laddie lads, look what we found!” Louis walks in alongside Zayn, his shirt oddly protruding as if he was trying to hide something. Liam is playing the new batman game on the Xbox and Harry is trying to go over his psych notes when they enter the room.

“Whatever it is can it hurry up? I need to finish this and then study for intro to law,” Harry says, not taking his eyes off the paper.

“Woof,” he hears and that certainly catches his attention. Louis lets go of an all too familiar pup.

“Loki,” Harry breathes so quietly that it’s almost missed by everyone else.

“What’d you say?” Zayn ask, looking concerned. Right, Zayn. Zayn who looks like Zed, but instead of being a closed off genius he is an artist with amazing wit and even bigger heart. Zayn who is more beautiful than anyone else Harry has ever met and who is more reserved than the rest of his friends. Zayn who has been his rock for the past year or so and Harry his. In some ways, these boys had made him forget about Lycia, about his life there. He had learned to stop entering the dream world on his own a long time ago but never needed to use it but once he met these boys he didn’t feel the need to go back. But now with Loki in front of him all the memories come rushing as if it was only yesterday that he was hunting in the fields of Abidis with Louis. _Louis, what if Louis is in trouble?_

He notices the small talisman hanging around Loki’s collar. “Yeah, I’m fine. Hey Lou, can I hold him?”

“Fuck, no,” Louis exclaims, “they always like you more. Let me have this one!”

It only takes a pout and a little pleading and Louis hands over the pup to Harry. Harry coos at it before swiping the talisman from its collar. He hands over the puppy and walks back to his room to read it. The talisman transforms into a letter once Harry breaks the miniscule seal; a string made out of unicorn hair Harry recognizes.

The letter reads:

_Hey, old friend, how are you? Do you miss me? I bet you don’t. Must’ve find ‘right mates’ in that world, huh? I just wanted to write this so you know how much we loved you, how much we miss you. I hope you like the present that comes along with it. Loki is yours now. Don’t worry he won’t turn into the hound that attacked you the first night. I promise. I love you, Harold. Bye._

Harry lets out a muffled sound, trying to contain a sob. Fuck, he misses him. He doesn’t understand how he could let go of his life in Lycia, how he just left, he wants to go back. He hears a knock on his door but he ignores and moves to his bed. He doesn’t need to see people right now but knowing his friends they enter the room anyway. It’s Louis first, “Hey, you alright?”

“’M alri’, can you let me be for a bit?” Harry pleads.

“Yeah, sure,” Louis walks out but not before dropping a kiss on Harry’s forehead. Then it’s Liam who comes in just to talk about a comic that he read at the store, and Zayn comes in just to sit and draw for a bit. And then it’s him.

Harry is still in bed when Niall walks in, he drops his bag on the floor and moves towards Harry’s bed, “Oi, I heard you’re in mourning. Get yer’ lazy arse outta bed. I need help with Lit shit my teacher gave me.” He removes the covers off of Harry’s face to find him sobbing. Harry looks up to blue eyes that are deeper than the ocean, the eyes that sometimes make his stomach ache in the most pleasant way possible.

Niall sits on Harry’s bed his back flat to Harry’s stomach. He reaches up to wipe the tears, the rough pad of his thumb gently stroking his cheek, “brought some beer. Z, texted me.”

This why Harry didn’t go back. This is why he chose to stay cause Dinium was right: he found a reason. These boys sort of fit themselves in every corner of Harry’s life making him forget about Lycia, the gremlins, the magic, the friends. To top it all of he was now falling for the brightest and loudest of them all. But that’s another story.

“Ni, can I ask you somethin’?” Harry voices softly.

“Yeah,” and Niall has a small smile on his face that warms Harry’s heart that makes him want to tell the boy all his secret, to give himself completely and irreversibly to him and only him.

“Say if I were to leave for forever, would it be okay?”

Niall reaches for Harry’s hand, intertwining their fingers as if the gaps between their fingers were made to be filled by each other, “Only if it makes you happy. ‘Sides, I’d probably follow you to ends of time. Can’t afford losing me best mate.” A slight blush decorates Niall’s cheeks and the dim lighting of the room makes the boy look – _ethereal_ , Harry thinks. Harry is completely endeared by the sight before him.

Harry decides to return to Lycia that night.

(x)

Harry wakes up in the fields of Mayzn except it looks different enough that he doesn’t recognizes it at first. The flowers have turned a shade of rustic brown and trees are sagging low, he touches the bark of the one beside him and can feel pain that courses through its roots; _something is wrong. The letter, oh god, the letter was a warning or a cry for help. Shit. Shit. Shit. How could he have been so stupid? How?_

He pulls out his pen that was safely tucked in his back pocket and chants the spell to reveal his sword, a personal gift from Morpheus himself, something he had received on his 16th birthday. He walks past the hut of the elves, and the Aphrodite’s Gardens but finds everything silent. Dead silent. He makes his way to the king’s castle and that’s where he sees it for the first time, blood marred pillars, bodies wasted to the side like yesterday’s garbage, and the image is truly horrifying. He hasn’t felt this scared in ages, since the first night, in fact.

“Hello,” he calls out because honestly why not. He walks into the king’s chamber and that’s where he finds a familiar face.

“Louis, Lance!” he rushes over to both boys quickly slashing the cuffs around their hands letting them be free.

“Harry, you came!” Louis exclaims, jumping forward and taking the younger boy in an embrace. Lance does the same and the three stand there reveling in each other’s presence. They look weak, Harry notices, their cheeks hollow and their eyes empty of the twinkle they once possessed.

“What happened?”

“Good question, why don’t you answer that Mortas?” an unfamiliar voice answers. Harry turns to face a tall man dressed in a tailored suit, a wicked grin on his face, and eyes darker than any shade of black Harry has ever seen. Harry can feel the chills run through his body. He wields his sword in the direction of the intruder, “who are you?”

“Oh Mortas and Franoid, didn’t tell you? Tsk tsk, I’m disappointed.”

“Our names are Lance and Louis, if you might’ve forgotten, Distreo,” Louis growls. Harry could see the hatred seeping through him and it only made the hold on his sword even firmer.

“Beside the point. Now young Harold, I have a task for you!” he requests gleefully, the wicked grin never leaving his face, “you’re gonna bring me, Glaucous.”

“He’s not gonna bring you anything, you bastard!” Louis lunges forward, but thankfully lance grabs his arm. Harry shields him just in case the man in front of them loses his patience. Something tells Harry that this Distreo character is not going to be easy to rid of.

“Oh, he most certainly will, if you want to see your precious Eleanor alive, and oh, what’s his name? Zed, right?” he threatens.

“Your threats are weak, Distreo, you need Zed to run this entire scheme. He’s the only man capable of doing so,” Lance speaks up for the first time. And this is the first time he has heard Lance talk so highly of Zed, when Harry was a frequent visitor they were at each other’s necks.

“Aw, so proud of your little boyfriend? What about Eleanor then, Mortas, going to let her rot in the pits of hell? Aphrodite most certainly will not be pleased,” Distreo coos.

“You little bastard,” Louis spits in Distreo’s face and all of a sudden he loses his cool demeanor. Two bulky gremlin appear by his side and he orders, “Finish them but leave the curly. I have some business with him.”

He turns. First mistake. Harry shouts, “Hold on to me!” The other boys do as told and Harry uses the spell Zed taught him years ago. He teleports them to Erised’s Hut, the safest place in the entirety of Lycia, even Morpheus himself can’t enter it.

The other boys open their eyes and Louis is the first question, “how’d you do that? And where are we?”

Harry explains how Erised’s Hut is the point that separates the real world from Lycia and how only a few know about it. Zed told him about it when he was 11 and they were attacked by Hydra. Zed told him that if he ever needs to escape any evil of Lycia he could come here and protect himself. Iris created the hut with all her powers just so she can provide the chosen ones and their loved one’s a safe haven.

“Huh, that makes sense,” Lance says.

“So, now will you guys tell me what happened when I was gone?”

“Everything,” Louis answers.

Lance starts, “Distreo is a demon that was banished centuries ago by the great hero Damius. They were arch rivals, but after losing he was locked away in the pits of underworld. However, every eclipse the seal on the prisons gets weak which is why every few years all the guards assemble to maximize the security but unfortunately we weren’t careful enough and Distreo escaped. And now he’s out for revenge. He wishes to destroy two things Damius loved most.”

“Which is?” Harry asks.

“Your world and ours. You see, Damius was like you, he was a gifted child. You’re his reincarnation which means –,” but before Lance can finish Dinium interrupts, “you have to save both our world.”

“How can I do that? I barely can wield my sword and I’m so out of practice and I don’t understand,” Harry manages, the words coming out rushed and messy. He doesn’t understand how he being so normal can do something so extraordinary.

“Calm down, that’s why we are here. Besides you don’t do this alone you do it with the help of your Sages and Glaucous,” Louis explains.

“Sages? Glaucous?”

“Right, you need a history lesson,” Lance says clearing his throat, “Sages were sort of Damius’s teammates. They were humans, but with extraordinary powers. Powers they could only use in Lycia and not in the real world unlike Damius. Just like how you can use your powers there.”

 _He can_ , Harry thinks, _that’s why he was the only one who saw the talisman._

“But who are these Sages? How am I gonna find them before Distreo carries out whatever his plan is?” Harry questions.

“Harry, the sages are your best friends. The Sages are Zayn, Louis and Liam,” Lance says, and Harry feels as if someone has pulled the floor from under his feet.

“I don’t understand.”

“What do you think you met them by chance? Harold, those kids have it written in their fate to die fighting for you. They were born to do this,” Louis says.

“Die?” Harry chortles, his head is spinning and everything is happening too fast, “no, no, they can’t be a part of this. They can’t! You don’t understand. They are my entire world, all of them. They mean the world to me.”

“Harry, they are literally our counterparts who were made to protect you in that world. We all knew you were going to choose to live in the real world, Morpheus knew, that’s why he made two of us. Two of us to protect you! And only you!” Louis reason, but it is all gibberish to Harry. The past year couldn't have meant nothing.

“They can’t do this to me,” he shakes his head.

“Of course, they can’t. They don’t even know. But they will soon and Glaucous will too.”

“Glaucous?” Harry looks up to look at Lance, too bothered by Dinium’s nonchalance about the whole situation.

“Niall. He’s Glaucous. The blue crystal. Someone who Distreo needs to kill in order to stop the world from regaining its balance ever again,” Lance tells.

“But we need to get to him first so he can help restore balance to the world again,” Louis states.

“And how do you suppose he’ll be doing that?” Harry snarls.

“By sacrificing himself of course. It’s his fate. Glaucous was made for this,” Dinium shrugs. Harry can swear that he can hear the blood rushing to his brain as blind rage takes over.

“His name is Niall! And he was made to learn sound engineering, drink pints, scream at football, and play the guitar and smile! _Smile!_ Not for some bullshit agenda made by Gods who’re to bored and use us as their bloody puppets,” he screams, his throat scratchy and voice rough, the thought of something happening to Niall making him shudder.

“A year with those copies and you’ve already forgotten about us?” Dinium says.

“At least I kept my compassion, a year in this hell and you’ve forgotten what’s right or wrong,” Harry retorts, immediately regretting his words.

“Don’t you dare! You weren’t here when they dragged here right in front of me! Or when Zed was snatched and made into a muppet for that demons commands! So don’t talk about compassion when _you_ left _us_!” Dinium hisses, throwing his hands in air.

“Enough!” Lance shouts, “I’ve had enough of this. Louis you knew he would go, we all knew, you could’ve stopped him but you didn’t so don’t put the entire blame on him. So far, Eleanor and Zed are concerned we’ll save them. I promise. You’re not the only who lost a loved one. And Harry, I’m sorry for what Louis said about your friend but that’s what it says in the books and that’s how it supposed to happen but it doesn’t mean we can’t do everything in our power to change. We’ll do everything to work together and defeat Distreo. However, we can’t do that alone and we need your friends’ help. Anyway, it’s been a long day and I’d like a proper bed and that bed is calling my name. Now both of you go cool off your head and we can talk in the morning. Alright?”

“Yes,” they both reply.

It’s past midnight when Dinium comes and lays down next to Harry. He doesn’t say anything instead just cries into his chest. He wraps his arms around the fairy who has looked after him for years and mumbles an apology something which is immediately reciprocated.

Harry knows what he has to do.

 

(x)

 

“If we do this protecting my friends is my priority,” Harry says first thing in the morning, “and by friends I mean, you lot and the one back in London.”

Dinium smiles, “of course, now let’s kick some demon butt.”

\--

“So, how will you two go to the real world with me? I thought you weren’t allowed?” Harry inquires.

“Oh, Zed got around it,” Lance blushes, praising his other-half.

“Neat, so how do we do this?”

“Right,” and here they go again.

 

(x)

 

Harry wakes up with the weight of two bodies on top of him, “Oi, get off!” He pushes Dinium and lance which causes Dinium to lose his balance and he lands on the floor with a loud thud.

“Ow,” Dinium winces.

“What happened?” Louis barges into his room at the sound of the voice.

Dinium looks up and faces the mirror image of himself. Louis screams.

\--

“So, you’re telling us that these two are from a dream land?” Liam asks for what seems like the hundredth time.

“Yes!” Harry, Dinium and Lance say in sync.

“What the fuck, Haz?” Louis exclaims, “be serious, where the hell did you find this doppelgänger? Or these doppelgängers?”

“Louis, listen to me!” Harry tries when both boys says, “I am!”

“Oh, god!” Both Liam and Louis say in unison.

“Why is there another version of me? Louis 2.0. He’s even shorter!” Louis mocks.

“Shorter? Who you calling short useless human! You’re the puny one,” Dinium points.

Harry stands between trying his best to keep the fighting to minimum. “Please believe me,” he pleads.

“I do,” Zayn says from his bean bag and Harry’s never been more grateful. He continues, “I always knew you were a traveler and we were sages. Was jus’ waiting’ for the right time for you to tell us.”

“How?” they all ask.

“I once accidentally slipped into the dream realm and when I did I stole a book,” he gets up and walks over to the small book shelf they invested in when they first got their new apartment – something Zayn had demanded to have – he picks out an old book that Harry has seen Zayn read on several occasions, “it was a library, quite old, but it looked right out of a fairytale. I saw this book and took it. I thought it was a dream but when I woke up the book was right by my side. I’ve read every single page of this book and researched about this for years and honestly it all makes sense now.” He shrugs.

“Okay, now that Zayn has lost it too, Liam will you help me knock some sense into both of these idiots?” Louis scoffs.

“Uh, actually, I think I believe Harry and Zayn,” Liam states.

“Of course, you do, you’re fucking him that’s why,” Louis shakes his head in disbelief.

“Alright, I didn’t want to do this but since this imbecile won’t believe us,” Dinium huffs before transforming into his fairy form, “believe us now?”

“Holy fucking shit balls,” Louis laughs, “you weren’t kidding!”

Harry sighs in relief, thinking that maybe he finally has everyone on board when Niall walks into their tiny apartment. “You guys won’t believe what happened to me today,” he enters the room joyfully dropping his bag at end of the hallway. He looks up and sees a fairy Louis, two Liam’s, normal Louis in a fighting stance, Harry in between them and Zayn on the couch as usual.

“You lot better have an explanation cause this is fuckin’ with me head,” he demands.

Harry retells his story again.

(x)

“So, what you’re telling me I’m Glaucous and these guys are the Sages and we have to save the world?” Niall asks.

“Sort of, yeah, alright, yes,” Harry stutters.

“Alright, let’s do it,” Niall jumps in excitement.

“Yeah, let’s kick some demon arse!” Louis fist-bumps Niall.

“You literally didn’t believe him an hour ago,” Zayn points out.

“Don’t be a buzz-kill, Z, right Louis 2.0?” Louis grins only to earn an eye roll from Dinium.

“Yes, and it’s Mortas to you, you imbecile,” Dinium retorts.

“I love when you talk mythology to me,” Louis coos, engulfing Dinium into a hug.

 

They all laugh and talk till their eyes get heavy and throats get hoarse. It’s around 3 am when Harry gets up to get a drink of water when he finds Niall in the kitchen making tea, “everything alright?”

“Just thinking,” the blond admits.

“I’m sorry I brought this upon you,” Harry offers, sitting down opposite to Niall, “none of you deserve this.”

“Harrieeeee,” Niall laughs, “I’d do anything to save the world.”

“Right, get a proper chance to be a hero, eh? Get all of them girls,” Harry jokes rolling his eyes. Niall reaches forward grabbing a hold of Harry’s hand, rubbing his thumb over the cross tattoo, “Nah, you twat.”

“Then what? Why would you risk your life to save it?” Harry asks, curious to know the answer.

Niall raises his head, a small smile playing at his lips, “I’d do it for you. I’d do anything for you.”

 

 

 

 

 


	2. oh, you fill my lungs with sweetness (and you fill my head with you)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, now you can go back to that world anytime you want. Live all your dreams,” Niall smiles fondly. 
> 
>  
> 
> “I suppose there is only one dream left,” Harry smiles back.
> 
> “Yeah? And what’s that?” Niall asks, biting his lip as if he’s trying to hold off another smile.
> 
> “You,” and with that Harry lunges forward, pressing his lips to the other’s. And it’s like everything Harry imagined, like a dream he could live in reality; and as he stands there kissing Niall he hopes that every kiss from now on turns into an I love you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright this might be really crappy but school is stressful and I didn't wanna keep this hanging so here, regardless i hope y'all like it. :)

_I’d do it for you, I’d do anything for you_. The words repeated like a chant in his head, over and over. What did he mean? Did it mean that in some sort of way Niall felt what Harry did? Or was it just him being his humble self where he only gives and never takes? Did it mean that the string of hope Harry had been holding onto, since the first day they met, is finally going to be a rope he can pull on? He remembers it, remembers how he had walked into his room after a busy day of classes and forgotten that his roommate was going to move in, forgotten that he even had a roommate. He remembers walking in to a room entirely redecorated, space utilized to the max, his clothes no longer on the floor, his books no longer a haphazard mess on his bunk bed. He remembers spotting an old acoustic guitar near the window and being tapped on the shoulder by a boy who was going to change his life. Niall; he called himself Niall.

Niall was different you see. He embodied life in the best way possible, his loud laughs, wide smiles and the love for everything he did made Harry’s heart swell. His unadulterated kindness, his straight-forwardness that had no malice attached, his knowledge about the most obscure things; everything, everything was endearing. Everything _is_ endearing. Doesn’t help that the boy is strikingly beautiful, not in the way Zayn is where you remain in awe, but in a way that Harry wants to just sort of admire. He wants to trace the freckles on his back, to see if they align to make a constellation, he wants to swim in his ocean blue eyes, run his hands through the bright blonde hair that makes him think of sunshine and summer, and maybe, just maybe, feel the softness of the lips that are the prettiest shade of pink.

“Watch out, Styles!” Liam shouts, but it’s already too late and the titanium shield hits Harry right in the head. He shrieks, clutching his head to ease the throbbing pain, falling to the ground.

“Shit, Harold, oh god,” Dinium rushes to his side, taking out an elixir from his small pouch and dropping a little bit of the liquid on Harry’s head, “this should do the trick.”

“Always had shit aim, Payno,” Louis teases. Just the Niall and Zayn come back with snack and refreshments but as soon as Niall sees Harry in crouching position he rushes to his side.

“What happened?” he asks, gingerly placing his hand on top of Harry’s where he is clutching his forehead. The curly haired boy opens his eyes, “was thinking of you and got boinged in the head.”

“Thinkin’ of me?” Niall asks softly, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Are you kidding me? When did this happen? I demand an –,” Louis starts but Zayn covers his mouth, “Could you shut up for one second, Lou?”

Niall and Harry just laugh.

(x)

“Right, so now that you all have agreed to help us defeat Distreo, I’d like to explain somethings to you,” Lance tells, “any power you have will only be useful to you lot in the dream world. Instead of going through the process of letting you pick your power we decided to cut it short and tell you what it is. Liam you are brute strength and the shield is your gift, Zayn you can control fire.”

“ _Sick!_ ” Zayn grins.

“And Louis you have super speed,” Lance finishes.

They are sitting in Harry and Niall’s room. It’s not that big but they’ve all fit themselves in perfectly, much like how they have with Harry’s life. They spent the entire day showing Liam how to throw a shield and injuring Harry in the process, luckily Dinium’s elixir healed the worst of his it. They did it an abandoned parking lot up that Harry and the boys found a couple of months back.

“What about me?” Niall questions.

“Uh, right,” Lance and Dinium look at each other before Dinium answers, “We don’t know what your power is. The thing is you don’t have a counterpart in Lycia. Hence, no one knows what your power is. Even in the books all it says is Glaucous died protecting Damius.”

Niall furrows his eyebrows in confusion, “who’s Damius?”

“I am,” Harry voices almost sternly. He isn’t sure how Niall will react to this new situation, whether he’ll take back his words from last night, whether this would scare him away – he wouldn’t be surprised, harry has half a mind to run away himself.

“I was born to protect you,” Niall says, it’s not a question but a statement and Harry wishes he could read the expression on Niall’s face, but he can’t. Harry watches Niall get up from his spot at the window sill and walk out of the room. The room falls silent and the only sound he can hear is the one his heart is beating: _did I lose you?_

 “Maybe you should go after him,” Zayn suggests, breaking through the barrier of thoughts.

“Yeah,” Harry breathes, running after the other boy. He finds Niall in the kitchen – his self-proclaimed favorite place – sitting at their dinner table. He is holding a guitar pick, a white one, the same one that Harry gifted him on his 19th birthday.

“You still have that,” Harry is surprised he even kept it.

“Of course, me favorite pick,” Niall replies casually. not surprised by Harry’s presence at all. He walks over to Niall’s side and crouches down, Niall turns in his chair and Harry takes his hand.

“You’re wrong you know,” Harry whispers.

“Yeah, about what?” Niall arches an eyebrow at the boy in front of him.

“You weren’t born to protect _me_ , in fact, it is quite the opposite, and I was made to protect _you_. Morpheus must’ve thought that silly human needs a weakness and then you were born and he must’ve been like ‘what a beautiful child’ he is going to be young Harold’s weakness,” Harry smiles.

“Except your theory has a flaw. I’m older than you,” Niall points.

“Technicalities,” Harry shrugs, “but seriously, I’d protect you till my last breath.”

“Styles, who made you think I’d need protecting?” Niall retorts, feigning offence.

“I just...” Harry stutters

“Shh,” Niall say, placing his finger on Harry’s lips, “the reason I left the room was to think over this. This is a lot to take, even for someone like me, so far being born to protect you goes. Honestly, I am honored. Don’t worry, can’t wait to kick some demon ass,” Niall winks. And Harry can honestly feel himself smiling.

“Niall, I want to say something,” Harry starts but is interrupted by Niall’s laugh.

The blond boy apologizes, “Sorry, but can you wait until after we are done saving the world? I wanna do this proper.”

“Yeah, me too” Harry agrees.

(x)

“So, how do we go to the dream world?” Zayn asks, tightening his belt.

“Oh, Harry is responsible for that,” Dinium says.

“Right,” And he recites a spell and before they know it they are in Erised’s hut.

“Why does it look different this time?” Lance asks.

“Oh, it changes with the number of occupants or when it feels like it. It’s quite cool,” Harry explains before making sure everyone else is okay.

“Now what?” Liam asks.

“Now we train,” Dinium says, pulling out his dagger.

They only train for about a week because it’s pretty easy for the boys to learn to control their powers. It kind of annoys Harry knowing that it took him years of training before he could even wield his sword properly, but seeing his friends’ progress still fills him up with pride. Even Niall learns a few combat skills and Dinium gives him Harry’s old bow and arrow for the time being; _until they discover his power_ , Harry thinks.

It’s in the middle of the night when they feel the first tremor, it’s small but enough to wake all of them up. It doesn’t last that long so they brush it off as paranoia. The second time though the entire hut shakes, it’s early in the morning and Harry and Dinium are the only ones awake at that point.

“Something is wrong,” Dinium gets up from his chair. They find the rest of the boys in the courtyard looking just as confused.

“What is going –,” but Louis doesn’t get to finish his thought as the front door is knocked down with intense force.

“We’re under attack!” Lance shouts, assuming a fighting stance. The rest of the boys gather round him, Harry to Niall’s side.

“So, this is where you were hiding?” Distreo says, walking over the battered door.

“How did you?” Harry asks, tightening his grip on his sword.

“Silly Child. I was Iris’s favorite. I knew all her secrets, including this one!” He taunts. “Oh look, I see you’ve found Glaucous. Wonderful, I guess I won’t be needing your services any longer.”

He snaps his fingers and an army of trolls appear behind him, Harry looks to his left making sure Niall is by his side, he notices the bow and arrow in his hand. He can do this, _they can do this_.

“Lads, you know what to do, remember the plan?” Harry smirks, jumping backwards. They split into groups of two, two and three; Niall and him, Dinium, Liam and Zayn, Lance and Louis. There are about 20 trolls but contrary to popular belief they aren’t short nor stumpy, instead they are quiet tall with a good built. They each have a mallet covered in spikes which they not only use to attack but also for defense. However, their biggest weakness is speed. They are very slow.

Harry and Niall decide to tag team on the group of three that approach them. They stand back to back, minimizing the chance of a surprise attack, both boys aiming their weapons at the enemy. A troll charges towards Harry, swinging his mallet and aiming at Harry’s chest. He shields himself with shield, maintaining his defensive stance trying to let his body accustom to the swordplay. The troll beats down on Harry’s sword, trying to break through his barrier, but only seems to tire it out; after, a couple more blows Harry shifts his weight to his side – since it’s his dominant one – and steps back trying to distance himself from the beast. He can no longer feels Niall’s back resting against his which makes him slightly anxious, but he know that if he turns he might be doing more damage than good. The beast frazzled by Harry’s change in position stops with the constant blows. Harry takes advantage of his moment of weakness and aims for the arm holding the mallet. It’s a clean slash, ridding the beast of his arm. He cries out in pain which only motivates Harry further, making him stab the troll right in the chest. 

He takes down a few more trolls before he turns to look for Niall, he sees the blond perched in front of a bleeding troll. He hurries towards him worried that something might’ve happened but instead finds an unscathed boy with shaky hands, “Niall, are you okay?”

The boy doesn’t react to Harry’s voice, he sits there with shaky hands and wobbly lips, “What happened? Ni, what’s wrong?” Harry crouches down, resting his sword on the ground, taking the boy’s face in his hands. He sees teary eyes, full of pain and anguish, “they don’t want this! They’re being forced to fight us!”

“I don’t understand, Ni. What do you mean?” Harry ask, confusion taking over him. Niall’s eyes widen, he escapes the boys grasp, holding up his bow and arrow. “ _No!_ ” Niall shouts. Harry feels someone pull his hair and suddenly he’s brought to his feet with a dagger around his neck.

“Tsk tsk, did you forget that I was still here?” Distreo asks, pulling on Harry’s hair. He casts a spell on him tying chains around him so he can’t escape.  

“ _Distreo! Let him go!_ ” Dinium shouts, running towards Niall and Harry with the others behind him. _They must’ve taken care of the rest of the trolls,_ Harry thinks.

“Oh, Mortas, I should’ve gotten rid of you when I had the chance. Too bad now I have to hurt the pretty one,” he frowns, dragging the weapons along Harry’s neck.  He feels the sharp sting of the knife which makes his squeal.

“Please let him go! I beg of you,” Niall begs, dropping his bow and arrow to the ground, “you want me, right? I’ll go with you. I promise, just let him go.”

The demon jeers at Niall’s appeal, “Aw, I see how it is. You’re in love. How cute. Alright, blondie, I’ll let lover boy here go if you come with me but tell your friends that if they try anything, and I mean _anything_ , they’ll immediately regret it.”

“No, Niall, don’t do this! He’s tricking you!” harry struggles.

“Oh, am I?” Distreo feigns shock, he scrapes Harry’s neck _ever-so-slightly_ leaving a small gash. Bright red trickles down Distreo’s hand which licks while looking Niall straight in the eye.

“I will do it, I’ll go with you!” Niall offers, trying to keep his eyes off the blood that now stains Harry’s shirt.

“Good boy, I knew you were a good seed,” Distreo offers his hand which Niall takes and in a matter of seconds he poofs out of the hut. Harry falls to his knees, the boys gathering around him.

“I’m sorry,” Dinium says, but it doesn’t matter to Harry. Lance breaks the chains around him, setting him free.

“I guess, that worked,” Louis shrugs, making Harry look up, “What? You think you’re the only one who cares about Nialler?”

“Zayn,” Liam calls.

“Right,” Zayn pulls out a small compass, “He is taking him to the North Tower according to this. Gonna say it’s about 25-30 miles away from here.”

“North Tower itself is about 600 ft above sea level. Just high enough to weaken any sort of protective barrier around it, I think if we leave tonight around midnight we can catch him off-guard. The tremors earlier meant that the two have already started merging if we need to stop them we need to save the others and kills Distreo by _tonight_ ,” Liam advises.

“I, I don’t get it?” Harry furrows his eyebrows in confusion, obviously baffled by what the others are saying.

“This was a setup. Niall was meant to be captured,” Harry looks at Dinium with an expression of bewilderment, “it was Niall’s idea, of course, but since he knew you wouldn’t have gone along with it we didn’t tell you.”

“Before you get mad, I’d like to tell you that I’ve been in touch with Zed, apparently counterparts can telepathically communicate with each other? Anyway, he told me about all the secret passages in the North Tower and how we can get there. He also said he knows where Distreo will take Niall. He has the entire tower mapped to its corners and infiltrated it with bugs. All the creatures that are under Distreo’s spell will be broken out of their daze once we arrive and hopefully, most likely, they’ll help us defeat him,” Zayn says, trying his best to reason with Harry. And it works, he trusts them, he trusts all his friends, he trusts _him_ and he knows that they all want the same thing.

“Alright, where is the North Tower?” Harry asks.

(x)

The boys make it to the Tower by midnight, they use Harry’s teleportation spell to transport themselves to one of the abandoned rooms Zed had told Zayn about. It’s eerily quiet which shouldn’t be a surprise since they are in a demon’s castle. They split up in groups of two, each group assigned to save someone. Dinium chooses to go with Zayn in hope of saving Eleanor, Liam with Lance to save Zed and Louis and Harry to save Niall.

“So, you and Niall, huh?” Louis teases, they’re walking down an empty hallway and so far no one has attacked them. They still have their guard up, though.

“Oh, come on, Lou, you’ve known since day 1,” Harry huffs, he couldn’t have been more obvious about his feelings and Niall couldn’t have been more oblivious.

“True, but when are you lot making it official? Oh, and please if you do, keep the moaning and fucking to a minimum, eh?” Louis jabs him in the ribs.

Harry can feel the blush creeping up his neck, “Christ, Lou, haven’t even kissed him yet.”

“But you want to,” Louis sing-songs. Harry lets the silence answer for him.

(x)

Louis and Harry open the doors to a large hall, it’s dimly illuminated due to the moonlight, but even from a good distance Harry can see Distreo’s lanky figure seated on a grand throne like a clichéd-villain. “Welcome, I figured you’d come after me. Persistent bunch of you.”

“Yeah, well, someone needs to drag your arse back to hell,” Louis retorts.

“Hrm. I suppose you’d like to know where your little boyfriend is?” he ignores Louis and snaps his fingers and suddenly the room is too bright. It’s quite extravagant now that Harry can see it clearly, there is a huge chandelier and the window has stain glass. 

There is a door at his far left which burst open with two cyclops barging in, holding Niall with hand each. He’s tied up, mouth tapped and hands cuffed, as he struggles to loosen the grip around his biceps. The sight itself should anger Harry but he tries to remain calm for the sake of the others who still need time to free Zed and Eleanor. Distreo abandons his chair and walks over to the middle of the room, his puppet guards following right behind him with Niall.

Once he comes to a stop he waves the cyclops letting them let go of the blond boy’s arms, he removes the masking tape, “you know I understand why curly here is so persistent on saving you.”

Niall just scoffs in response which earns him an amused expression from the demon. Distreo reaches for his face, cupping it in his hands as he inches forward, “you’re quite pretty.” If Harry had mustered any self-restraint before then it is gone now because before Louis can yell stop Harry charges towards the maniac. He pulls out his sword hoping to injure the demon but instead the cyclops come to his defense, one of them getting stabbed in the arm.

“ _Now!_ ” Louis yells, and suddenly a bright light envelops the room confusing not only Harry but Distreo too. Harry opens his eyes to an untied Niall standing by his grinning his trademark smiles, “couldn’t wait for a few more minutes, babe?’

Harry tries to ignore the way his heart skips a beat to the term of endearment, “you’re only mine to touch. Couldn’t really let anyone else do that.”

Niall switches into a fighting stance, “possessive, huh, I guess I don’t mind.”

Before Harry can respond a sea of mythical creatures fill the grand room one by one with Distreo right behind them. “I see you’ve discovered your powers, huh? No worries, I’ll finish the three of you once and for all,” he threatens.

Niall’s power is mimicry, Harry learns, he not only absorbs the other's power but can also use it to his advantage. The boys fend for themselves for a while but soon the number of opponents start to weigh down on them.

Louis and Niall cover each other’s back as Harry wedges between them, “now what?”

“Now we send Distreo to where he belongs,” Dinium says, entering the room with an army of his own.

Harry doesn’t know when the small attack turns into a full scale battle, but he figures that Zed was able to break the spell over some of the creatures that Distreo had under his control. He continues to fight off an ogre when he loses sight of Niall; his heart racing faster than before. He scours the hall in hopes of finding a blond and when he does he sees Distreo right beside him.

“ _NO!_ ” Harry shouts at the top of his lungs, trying to make his way through the throng of creatures fighting to keep this and his world alive. He sees a bright light spilling out of Distreo’s hand and without a second thought he jumps in front of Niall.

(x)

Harry wakes up in his bedroom in his shared apartment, the lights to his room are turned off but he definitely recognizes his bed and desk that is to his side. He sits up confused. _Was it all a dream?_ But then he sees the small silver pen carefully placed on top of his intro to law book. And then he remembers, _Niall!_ He gets out of bed, completely frazzled and disoriented, and follows the faint sound of television coming from the living room.

He keeps up his guard, hoping to himself that it isn’t another one of Distreo’s tricks, but ends up finding a very tired Zayn cuddled up next to Liam, Louis eating out of a box of Weetabix and Niall in the kitchen making tea. _Niall, Niall is okay._ He doesn’t even acknowledges the other boys and rushes towards the older boy.

“You’re, you’re alright,” he breathes, his voice shaky. He must’ve caught Niall off-guard because the boy jumps in surprise only to smile once he sees Harry standing about two feet away from him.

“And you’re awake,” he replies softly. He is smiling, not one of those big smiles where it’s too hard to contain them or the small ones that are meant to be given as a polite gesture, but instead a smiles that reaches his and crinkles his nose and Harry can swear that that’s the smile he fell for. That’s the smile he’s in love with.

“Oi, you’re awake! I guess, we can let Dinium know now,” Louis shouts, but Harry ignores him.

“How? I don’t understand,” he ask, confused by the turn of events.

Zayn walks past him, opening the fridge and taking out the orange juice carton, “He saved you.” He pours the juice in a glass and points at Niall, “he had more than just one trick up his sleeve. Used Distreo’s own powers to kill him.”

“Should’ve seen him, mate, he killed it out there. Oh, and apparently due to Distreo’s interference with disrupting the balance with the two-worlds and what not Zed was able to figure out a way in which Sages and travelers can visit the dream world anytime they want. Isn’t that ace?” Louis explains, but all sound is lost to his heart beating wildly in its cage. Just as Zayn leaves the kitchen, Harry moves forward, slowly inching towards the blue-eyed boy.

“You know, now you can go back to that world anytime you want. Live all your dreams,” Niall smiles fondly.  


“I suppose there is only one dream left,” Harry smiles back.

“Yeah? And what’s that?” Niall asks, biting his lip as if he’s trying to hold off another smile.

“You,” and with that Harry lunges forward, pressing his lips to the other’s. And it’s like everything Harry imagined, like a dream he could live in reality; and as he stands there kissing Niall he hopes that every kiss from now on turns into an _I love you._

_~ FIN ~_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> please please please leave comments, kudos, and constructive criticism, thank youuuuu.


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